


Give Me Your Colour

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Reaper76 [49]
Category: overwatch
Genre: Angst, Colours, First Meetings, Loss, Love, M/M, Reunions, Soul Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-23 06:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Colour.He knew what it was, although he couldn’t name which one he was looking it, no one could the first time they saw colour. After all, how could you explain this to someone who could only see the world in grey?Colours come to those who have found their soulmates, and when they disappear from the world they take it with them.





	Give Me Your Colour

    Jack still remembered the first time he had seen in colour. It had been during on the of the testing days for SEP, he had been collapsed at the side of the course, breathing hard, but still trying to stay focused on the last group who were working their way through the task. He was keenly aware of the fact that there weren’t enough places for them all, and while he knew that there was a lot they weren’t being told against the programme, he also knew that he wanted one of those places. Hence his keen focus on the competition, men and women who had stood out enough in their own fields to be nominated for SEP, men and women who had served in every branch of the military.

     He was just watching several of them scrambling up one of the walls, clawing their way to the top as fast as they could, in the hope of grabbing precious seconds on each other, when he caught a flicker of something out of the corner of his eyes. At once he tensed, fingers twitching, itching to reach for a weapon he didn’t have as he turned towards it, eyes scanning the area for any sign of danger. There was nothing, and he frowned, wondering if he had imagined it and he was about to turn his attention back to the race that was finally coming to an end when it happened again. Only this time he realised that it was something moving, but rather a flash of something that stood out brightly against the greys of the world, and he was barely aware of his mouth falling open as he stared at it.

Colour.

    He knew what it was, although he couldn’t name which one he was looking it, no one could the first time they saw colour. After all, how could you explain this to someone who could only see the world in grey? It was beautiful though, even if Jack couldn’t put a name to it, but he only managed to appreciate it for a moment before his gaze darted back to the men and women around him. If he was starting to see colours that meant that his soulmate was here, after all, that was the only way to see colour, but they must have barely interacted, possibly only just walking past each other as the world was still mostly grey. It didn’t matter, what mattered was that he knew that they were here, his heart hammering in his chest as he looked from face to face.

_Who? Who is it?_

_Who are you?_

**

    Jack hadn’t managed to find them that day, too overwhelmed to just go from person to person in the hopes that he would speak to the right one and have the rest of the world burst into colour. But gradually, as the tests continued, and their numbers dwindled he found more and more colours seeping into the world around him. Seeing the world in colour was a dizzying experience. Used to seeing everything in various shades of grey, Jack found himself jumping at the slightest thing and seeing everything through fresh eyes. He had managed to find an old, battered guide to colours on the bookcase in the recreation room, and late at night when he was supposed to be asleep, he set to work learning the ones he could already see by torchlight, all the while wondering what his soulmate would be like.

    The fact that they were both here, both trying to get into SEP gave him hope. He had always worried that he might find them when he was on tour, unsure of whether he would be able to leave behind the life he had grown to love for a stranger who was supposed to be destined for him. Now, he wouldn’t need to make that choice…unless one of them didn’t make it through the barrage of tests.

    He tried not to think about that, relieved that there were only another few days of testing and then they would know, one way or another. Still, he couldn’t stop his fingers tightening on the edges of the book, staring blankly at the pages of blues.

_Please, let me find them._

****

Jack Morrison had formally been accepted into the Soldier Enhancement Program.

      Of the two hundred candidates that had started the testing, only sixty had been accepted, and it had been made clear as they signed form after form. Medical Disclosures. Secrecy Agreements. Wills…that not all of them would survive the program. Jack had thought that he had been ready for that, but as he signed the forms now, watching as the blue ink sank into the paper, he wondered if he really was. After all his soulmate was here, what would happen if they met if they became something more and then one of them died?

    He already knew the answer, knew that if that happened, these beautiful, wonderful colours would fade away and the world would turn grey once more. And the colours would never come back. It had only been a few months since he had seen his first colour, red, he had learned later, but he could barely imagine going back to that dark world. However, it was too late to back out now, and Jack was nothing if not stubborn. He had fought to earn this place, to have the chance to make the difference, he couldn’t throw that away because of a possibility, and so he signed on the dotted line and officially became Candidate 76.

    As he trekked through the corridors of the base, following the directions he had been given, he couldn’t help but glance at everyone he passed. Hoping, praying that he would find the person who had brought colour into his world. Instead, all he found was nervous glances, a tension in the air that had been missing during the tests as the reality of the situation set in, and by the time he finally reached the narrow corridor where his room was, Jack was staring at the ground, his certainty wavering.

    The door to his room was already open, and belatedly he remembered that he had been told he would have a roommate, insurance, the medical staff had informed him for if he had an adverse reaction to any of the treatments. Jack had caught the sideways glances and knew that they meant ‘when’ not if. Forcing a smile back onto his face he rapped lightly on the door and stepped inside, eyes immediately taking in the few belongings that he could see on the left-hand bed, but there was no sign of his would-be roommate, and he frowned in confusion, jumping when a door that he hadn’t noticed swung open. He had a brief glimpse of a tiny bathroom beyond, but then his gaze was riveted to the man who had just stepped out, gaining a fleeting impression of handsome features and stern brown eyes, before the world exploded into colour around him.

Too much.

     It was too much, there were too many colours springing to life around him, more than he could name even after his studies and he gasped, throwing a hand up to protect his eyes as his knees crumpled beneath him. He was vaguely aware of a matching gasp, and a muttered curse, his heart racing at the sound of the man’s voice. Of his soulmate’s voice and he desperately wanted to open his eyes and look at him, to see this person that fate had decided was perfect for him, but he didn’t dare open them just yet, nausea churning in the pit of his stomach.

   It was the feeling of warm, gun-calloused fingers against his cheeks that finally made him lower his hand, and cautiously open his eyes. The other man was crouched in front of him, the previous sternness having melted away to be replaced by a slow, incredulous smile, the brown eyes roving over his face, drinking in his features. “So, you’re the one that’s had me seeing colours these last couple of months,” he murmured after a moment, and Jack savoured the sound of his voice, feeling it wrap around him like a hug, settling into his bones as though he had always known it, and it was all he could do to manage a small nod. He almost whined when the gentle touch disappeared, blinking when he was offered a hand up, meeting the man’s hand before slowly accepting it. “Gabriel,” the man said as he curled his fingers around Jack’s fingers, a smile growing at Jack’s confused expression. “Gabriel Reyes.”

“Jack Morrison,” Jack replied, colouring as he caught up, allowing Gabriel to lift him to his feet. _Gabriel,_ he turned the name over and over in his mind, feeling something that he hadn’t even realised he needed settling into place. _Gabriel._

    When he looked, the world around them was filled with colour and while it was new and daunting, and he knew that he would have to spend more evenings learning their names, it wasn’t overwhelming anymore. Instead, it was beautiful, and he could stop the smile that slipped free as he looked back at Gabriel and saw that he was looking around with the same awe and wonder that he was feeling and realising that they were still holding hands, he squeezed softly. There were many things he wanted to say as Gabriel looked at him once more. _I’m glad that I found you, that we’re in this together. But I’m also scared of what could happen, that we could lose this colour…._ He said none of that, knowing that there was time for those words, those fears later and instead he grinned at Gabriel. “So, Gabriel Reyes, tell me about yourself.

****

    They had been lucky. Of the sixty that had stared SEP, less than a third had survived to the final stages of the programme and by the time the final round of injections and supplements had finished their numbers had been whittled down to eleven, Jack and Gabriel amongst them.

Eleven, from sixty.

    There had been days when Jack had been sure that they weren’t going to be amongst the survivors, long nights spent fighting their way back from the edge when their bodies threatened to give out or waiting for the other to claw their way back. There had been days when he could barely move, agony radiating through a body that no longer felt like it was his that he had almost wished that he hadn’t survived. Gabriel had been his strength during those times, even when he himself had wavered and threatened to collapse under the pressure, and somehow, they had kept each other sane and moving forward.

   On graduation day they stood side by side, looking nothing like the two strangers that had met in that tiny dormitory room nearly eight months before. SEP had been a tremendous success despite the high cost, and they both knew that it was only a matter of days before they would be deployed as the Crisis was growing worse by the day, the world’s military forces unable to stem the Omnic attacks let alone shut them down at the source. It was an intimidating force knowing that they were going to be at the forefront of that fight, that so many hopes were resting on their shoulders and the shoulders of the men and women around them. The only comfort they had as they stood there listening to the speeches, was that where one went the other would go to, not even SEP dared interfere with soulmates, and their pairing had become public knowledge long ago as neither of them had been willing to hide it.

    Jack glanced at Gabriel out of the corner of his eye, admiring the handsome figure he cut in his uniform and wondering if under the calm, collected mask he felt as nervous as Jack about what was to come. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to ask, even though he knew that Gabriel would never laugh at him. He risked another glance, and this time Gabriel met his gaze, his lip quirking just slightly in acknowledgement before his attention returned to the front. It was enough, Jack’s stomach settling, his nerves becoming a background him.

_It doesn’t matter, if we’re together we can handle anything._

****

    What had seemed like a wishful feeling at the time, turned out to be truer than he could ever have imagined when they deployed. They were the perfect team, Gabriel was cool and calculating, able to take in a battlefield in an instance and know where his forces needed to be. He was the brain, the calm, and Jack was the spirit. He was the one who could keep going even when everyone else was flagging, the one who could smile even when the world was going to hell around him. Together, they deadly and slowly, painstakingly slowly it began to make a difference.

    They’d won one battle, then another and another. Other SEP graduates had fallen, their numbers whittling down, and in their place Jack and Gabriel found others. Men and women who weren’t blessed with the same enhancements as they were, but who had found their own ways to fight, and they had come together as a Strike team that began to turn the tide of the war despite their small numbers.

    Through it all, Jack and Gabriel grew closer and closer. It was impossible not to when the weight of the world rested on your shoulders, and the only thing keeping you alive was the man at your back. As their bond deepened, the world around them became more vibrant, blazing with colours just for them, and it gave them more to fight for.

**

     The world was at its brightest the day the Omnic Crisis ended, the sky above them a beautiful, bright blue that seemed the more vibrant for the lack of smoke and sparks filling it and Jack remembered just standing there, hand in hand with Gabriel, their team around them as they let the reality of the situation was over them.

They had won.

The war was over.

Only it wasn’t.

      Pockets of resistance still existed, and other threats rose up to fill the void left by the Omnic Crisis, and despite the whispered conversations late at night where they had dared to dream of a life beyond SEP, beyond the Strike team, they knew they couldn’t walk away…. not yet.

    Then Overwatch had been born, the world looking to them once more to protect them, and they had answered the call. It hadn’t taken them long to realise that this world was different, that the teamwork they had so painstakingly built up through war was not what was needed in this current war, and with reluctance, they had perused different paths. Jack taking the public stage, all smiles and bright burning spirit, leading them, protecting them. While Gabriel had faded into the shadows, working behind the scenes.

    At the start it hadn’t changed things between them, after all, they were still working towards the same goals, striving for peace that would allow them to pursue the life they had dreamed about. And they still had each other’s back, Jack providing cover for Gabriel and his agents, Gabriel making sure that those who wanted to bring Overwatch crashing to its knees never got close to his soulmate. That period was referred to as the golden age, the media and politicians singing their praises, and for a time it had felt like, Jack and Gabriel’s words growing more and more vibrant with each day, the colours richer each time they looked.

   Maybe that was why they missed the signs, the little cracks that began to seep in, both in their relationship and within Overwatch itself.  Gabriel knew about the whispers, the threats, stretching himself thin to try and stop them, starting to push the boundaries of what was right and wrong, doing what needed to be done to keep the world safe. To keep Jack safe. Maybe, that was why he didn’t see how each lie, each press conference to protect Blackwatch added more threads of silver to his partner’s hair, or why he thought nothing of it when Jack began to spend more and more nights working in his office. Jack wasn’t blameless, he trusted Gabriel, trusted the man who had given his world colour, maybe too much. He took the pressure, the burden of public opinion and U.N. disapproval on his shoulders, he burdened himself with guilt over every failure and agent lost, whether he had been in the field or not, refusing to share it, even with Gabriel.

    And so, the cracks spread, little spots of grey seeping back into their world, but it went unnoticed amongst the colour.  Until it was too late, the world they had fought so hard to create and protect going up in flames around them.

**

   Jack had woken to a world of grey and wished that he hadn’t woken up at all. He had forgotten how lifeless this world looked, but it was a thousand times worse now because he’d had colour. He’d had a soulmate. He’d had Gabriel.

And he’d lost it all.

    He knew the moment that his eyes had opened to a colourless world that Gabriel was gone, and for a long time, he had just laid there. He didn’t care that Zurich was gone, that Overwatch might crumble after this, all he could think about was the dull ache in his chest that came from the realisation that he had lost his soulmate.

    It was only sheer stubbornness, a will to live that wouldn’t die even in this empty, colourless world that forced him to crawl out of Zurich, to fade away into the shadows to rest and recover. It had been there, in the tiny safehouse that he had holed up in that he had learned that he hadn’t lost everything, his heart hammering in his chest when during tending his wounds that he had seen a flicker of colour in the corner of his eye.

Just as he had all those years ago.

    When he’d tried to look for it again, it had faded, leaving him stranded, drifting in the world of grey and believing that he must’ve imagined it. It was days later when he stumbled back into the house with a fresh wound trickling blood where an opportunistic thief had underestimated him, he saw it again, only this time it was a flicker. It was clearly visible, vibrant against the grey and Jack trembled, staring down at his arm transfixed.

Red.

   The first colour he had ever seen, the first colour that Gabriel had introduced to his world. His vision was blurring with unshed tears as he stared at it, reaching out with trembling eyes to touch it, waiting for it to fade to grey once more. When it didn’t disappear, he trembled, the tears that had refused to fall even when he had first realised that Gabriel was gone now trickling down his cheeks, a sob rising in his throat at the realisation that he could still see some colour, that he hadn’t lost everything.

But that would mean….

  _Gabriel was alive._

**

    Gabriel hadn’t expected to wake up again, and when he had, he’d been a shadow of his former self, his body a writhing, shifting mass that felt like it belonged to someone else.  However, despite the burning ache that radiated through every inch of him with each breath and movement, it paled in comparison to the almost physical pain that had spiked through him when he had realised that the world was bathed in grey.

_No._

    At first, he had prayed that the grey came from the same incorporeal form he spent those first few days trapped in, but even as he gradually learnt to pull himself into a solid form, the colour never returned. It was two weeks after he had first woken that he took his first proper steps out into the world, and learned what had happened to Zurich, to Overwatch…to Jack… that he had finally been forced to face up to the fact that the world really was bathed in grey, and that it was going to remain like that, because Jack. His soulmate. His colour was gone.

      He didn’t break, even when he would spend long hours staring at things, trying to remember what they had looked like when they were vibrant with colour. Instead, he grew cold and bitter, anger constantly simmering beneath his skin. Someone had done this to them. Someone had made him into this strange wraith-like creature, with one foot always in death. Someone had taken Jack from him, and with his soulmate, had turned the world into this endless grey.

He would find them.

     It gave him a purpose, a reason to keep going in the grey wilderness, even when he longed to join Jack, and so his hunt had become. The life he had lived in the shadows served him well now, and with no one left to protect or worry about him, he went deeper and deeper, losing himself in his fury and his need for revenge.

That’s when he encountered him.

Soldier 76.

   If the familiar form and the distinctive way that the vigilante fought him hadn’t been enough to betray who lay beneath the visor and mask. Then the flash of colour that distracted Gabriel long enough to let 76 land a blow that had him stumbling backwards, his nanites rushing to heal the damage, however, for once he paid them no mind. Because the flash of colour hadn’t disappeared, the blue…Jack’s blue…the first colour he had ever seen, little bursts of it in the other man’s jacket and he knew that if he tore that cursed visor away, then he would be faced with sky blue eyes. He didn’t think either of them was ready for that, or for the flood of colours that he suspected would come if they locked eyes, and for a wild moment, he was tempted to flee, not sure what to make of the tempest of emotions breaking through his fury. But he couldn’t…not when Jack, not when his soulmate was stood barely three feet away, and after a couple of attempts he convinced his voice to work, voice cracking as he whispered a name he had never thought he’d have a need to say again.

“Jack….”

_You’re alive…_


End file.
